Packaged Bubblegum Pop Back!

It felt like the era that would never end—the Backstreet Boys, never harmed by their gay-seeming name, took the world by storm in 1993, 'N Sync (*NSYNC, whatever!) came to fame in 1995, and, in the UK, Westlife revoltingly propagated in 1998. You see, Kurt Cobain died in 1994 and America was never the same, it could not believe in anything! The ensuing era was only slightly redeemed by the creation of Justin Timberlake, who is awesome, though awesome in that way that white men who steal well are. Now, after a decade of boy- and girl-band aftermath—the Britney, the Simpsons, the tabloid explosion, and now the slow death of that frenzy—well, now we are in an era being defined by the horrible Jonas Brothers. NKotB is putting out a new album next month! And look out, says the BBC—the era of tween band packaging is BACK.